Simon says: I'll tackle Milan-San Remo classic

DEFENDING champion Simon Gerrans has beaten a severe head cold to declare himself a certain starter for the Milan-San Remo on Sunday.

Simon Gerrans

DEFENDING champion Simon Gerrans has beaten a severe head cold to declare himself a certain starter for cycling's season-opening monument Milan-San Remo on Sunday.

But the 32-year-old Victorian has played down his chances of going back-to-back, saying Orica-GreenEDGE's plan was to work for fellow Aussie Matt Goss in the 298km Italian classic.

It took 104 years for an Australian to win Milan-San Remo but between them, Gerrans and Goss have won the past two crowns.

Gerrans' preparation for Sunday's race was hit by illness last week when he abandoned French stage race Paris-Nice which was won by Tasmanian Richie Porte.

He battled a head cold and asthma - which also plagued him in January's Tour Down Under.

"I came down with a really heavy cold in Paris-Nice," he said.

"We were riding in atrocious conditions and that's when I tend to get bad asthma as well.

"So after four stages we made the decision for me to go home and get healthy for San Remo rather than risk getting worse.

"It was the right decision.

"I was never bed-ridden but I  had a couple of easy days on the  couch and have been easing back into training.

"I'm a definite starter for Milan-San Remo unless something drastic happens."

Gerrans has suffered from symptoms of asthma his entire life which are usually brought on by allergies and inclement weather.

"I can generally manage it pretty well and I take medication all-year round," he said.

"I've seen many respiratory specialists over the years but as  a  cyclist I avoid the winter months so I cop spring and the allergies twice."

Further hampering his spring preparation was heavy snow cancelling Italian one-day race GP  Lugano last month.

But Gerrans said despite the setbacks, his form should be there on the weekend.

"I'm not going too bad considering it's been a far from ideal preparation," he said.

"I had a big pre-season and have worked really hard in training so all the hard work has been done.

"Milan-San Remo is such a long, hard race and if you've done the hard work and done the kilometres you'll be OK for seven hours of racing."

Orica-GreenEDGE won't talk tactics for the race until Saturday night but Gerrans is adamant that getting Goss to the line is the team's priority.

Gerrans' own chances of winning hinge on how either of them are feeling after 250km of racing and their position in the field.

"It's no secret looking at our team that Matt Goss is our clear  leader," he said.

"I'll probably go in with a free reign and if the opportunity is there to be in the final like last year ... but if not I'll lay it all on  the line for Matt Goss as well."

Gerrans said Slovak Peter Sagan deserved to start the race as favourite after he won two stages of Tirreno-Adriatico last week - including Stage 6 which featured climbs of 27 per cent gradient and saw more than 50 riders fail to finish.

"(Sagan) announced some time ago that San Remo was his big objective," Gerrans said.

"He's winning bunch sprints and hill-top finishes and is obviously in fantastic shape.

"But you can never count out guys like (Fabian) Cancellara and Mark Cavendish."